One of the things I’ve been doing a lot more with my time is cooking and baking things that I’ve never done before in an effort to try something new.

I find I get into a rut sometimes and revert to cooking and preparing dinner that is something tried and tested because it means it minimises my time in the kitchen menu planning and preparing.

After all, I’m not that enamoured with cooking or baking. To me, it’s “meh” although people have told me that they love my cooking (which is weird because I just throw things together).

Cooking is just a necessity for me and no matter how much I try and get excited by it, I simply can’t.

I grew up in a household where my mother is an exceptional cook and quite creative in how she prepares food – preferably using home grown, organic produce with little, if any, processed foods. So growing up in an environment where food is prepared and then eaten together at the dining table, I’ve seen the time that goes into growing, preparing, planning and then saving your food. It’s pretty exhausting. No wonder I just like to be on the receiving end of it – eating it.

You can see my mum cooking here where she shares her recipe for Greek Easter biscuits called ‘koulourakia’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOf4vChBuKI

Besides, my Greek mother makes TONS of food so there’s really no need for me to cook because she always gives me trays of stuff.

I talk about this in this short story here from 2:30…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-xeKcSSO8

However, cooking – and baking – is an art in itself and I’m aways in awe of people who love it and then share their love of it.

This year, I thought I’d at least try and get my mojo back when it comes to cooking and baking too. At least, try a recipe every month from various YouTube channels that I follow to just ease myself into it.

Nothing too onerous, something simple, hearty and quick and using ingredients that are already in the pantry.

I’m also mindful that I’ve got so many cookbooks too and at times, I get overwhelmed with the choices I have to the point, that I revert back to just what I know. It wasn’t lost on me that this is usually what happens with a lot of things now as our choices expand, we lose our way a bit and we’re paralysed for choice that in the end, it’s simpler to do nothing.

I was worried about this because if we let too many choices get on top of us, we end up not doing anything at all. So I decided to really SIMPLIFY my choice. Just explore 1 or 2 YouTube channels and the cook books I already own and then choose just 1 or 2 recipes to do a month. That’s it.

Here’s the YouTube channel and the recipes I’ve done this month which turned out fantastically well!

This bread is utterly delicious but I’d recommend you flatten it as thin as possible before rolling it up so that it is cooked evenly on the inside. My husband and I attacked it as soon as it got out of the oven, butter at the ready.

And this potato and cheese and vegetable combo has a bit of a kick to it and is really easy to make and very filling.

I love watching and learning French from Elsa and this time she shares her french toast recipe and she puts cinnamon in it! I love French toast (even though it’s not French) however, I also tried her other recipe, quite genius where she makes her own sugar free jam using frozen berries and chia seeds!

Some other YouTube channels I subscribe to and made the following:

One Meal A Day

I LOVE this channel and have made SO MANY THINGS FROM IT. My favourite, is that I now make my egg omelette as a souffle – very light and fluffy!

The Cooke Foodie

These overnight oats were really easy to make!

Thy Than

This is another great YouTube channel for wonderful and easy desserts.

How To Cook Smarter

I did these as well with this YouTuber who shares both savoury and sweets and really easy recipes.